....I would still argue that it is rude to tie up any resource for an unusual amount of time, especially when you can choose to use a similar but not identical resource, but a segment of the population cannot make that same choice.

I would feel it was rude to spend a long time in a single toilet restroom as well if you could avoid it. Then you would be keeping all women (assuming you're using the women's room of course) from using the bathroom. I do tend to be more careful of how long I'm in one of those rooms. This isn't' different to me.

I understand where you're coming from, but I really feel like most women are eager to get in, take care of business, and get out again as soon as is humanly possible. At least, that's my feeling about public restrooms

Sometimes, though, people have to occupy a stall for a while. I would be interested in knowing how you determine if someone's situation was avoidable?

I suppose that there are people who do go into stalls and dawdle there, but I think most people do not find them so attractive as to linger for a long time.

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My cousin's memoir of love and loneliness while raising a child with multiple disabilities will be out on Amazon soon! Know the Night, by Maria Mutch, has been called "full of hope, light, and companionship for surviving the small hours of the night."

I have IBS also, and I think we with such disorders tend to forget, IBS is a disability also. When we need a toilet stall, we need one NOW. It's not a mobility issue but a disability just the same and if needed, we can take "priority" in a stall for the disabled. Though I do agree with PPs that it is best to make good faith efforts to find other alternatives, we aren't rude for using the stall for disabled people, because we are disabled also.

And maybe if I repeat that to myself enough times I'll actually believe it more myself and quit feeling so guilty...ha.

Exactly. I'm going to go out on a line here, and probably catch more than a little flak for it.

For public restrooms with several stalls available:--If there is no one behind me who will need the H/A stall I will use it if it is the first one available.--Regarding the above, I will use the H/A stall even if there are other stalls available (ie no one else in bathroom) or if H/A and single stalls free up at same time.--My choices above aren't dictated by either a 'short' or 'long term' visit. Using the bathroom is using the bathroom. FWIW, since I have no desire to be in a public restroom one fraction of a second longer than necessary, I never 'dawdle' in either stall or public area.

Why? I like the room. I don't like having to act like a gymnast to keep my clothes off the floor and out of the toilet in a cramped stall. I don't like the closeness to others, and the extra room plus one wall stall free helps immensely. More than likely it is the nicest stall in the bathroom, and if its available I'm going to use it (unless someone that needs its special accessibility features is needing it).

I'll probably be roasted for my remarks, I know. Please keep in mind I respect others' decision to not use the H/A stall for whatever reasons. I just ask others not be shocked or offended that others' views may differ.

I did this the other day at a restaurant, and felt terrible about it because the minute I went to shut the door, a couple of elderly ladies walked in. :-/ I didn't even truly realize it until I was already sitting on the toilet and then I realized what a possible faux pas I had just committed.

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"Some of the most wonderful people are the ones who don't fit into boxes." -Tori Amos

I did this the other day at a restaurant, and felt terrible about it because the minute I went to shut the door, a couple of elderly ladies walked in. :-/ I didn't even truly realize it until I was already sitting on the toilet and then I realized what a possible faux pas I had just committed.

Were they in wheelchairs? Elderly does not equal handicapped....

No faux pas. In public bathrooms, generally speaking, first come, first served.

If it's been a long day and I'm tired, I can't get up off the seat without having something to pull on. Sometimes the paper holder and feminine hygine disposal aren't sturdy enough to use for that purpose, so I just about have to use the handicapped stall. The funny thing is that if I happen to have my cane with me, I can use it to get up and don't need the special stall, so when I am seemingly in need of the stall is when I don't really need it. It looks odd to other people, I'm sure.

Really bad toilet design in restaurant - someone RAISED the toilet paper dispenser and the little trash holder (for "feminine" supplies) to hip level and put them directly opposite each each other on the walls of the cubicle. I got the idea that some guy without hips installed them............

I had to turn sideways to get my hips through the gap. Getting off the toilet, I had to start doing the twist again as they were JUST barely in front of the toilet seat. Might have been handy for getting to the toilet tissue and the trash holder - but lousy positioning for women - if you had a shoulder strap on your purse - it would snag on one or the other of the things coming & going.

Worst positioning other than on the outside of the door that I have ever seen, heard, or read of. And the outside of the door was for a purse & coat hanging hook - not toilet tissue!

Really bad toilet design in restaurant - someone RAISED the toilet paper dispenser and the little trash holder (for "feminine" supplies) to hip level and put them directly opposite each each other on the walls of the cubicle. I got the idea that some guy without hips installed them............

I had to turn sideways to get my hips through the gap. Getting off the toilet, I had to start doing the twist again as they were JUST barely in front of the toilet seat. Might have been handy for getting to the toilet tissue and the trash holder - but lousy positioning for women - if you had a shoulder strap on your purse - it would snag on one or the other of the things coming & going.

Worst positioning other than on the outside of the door that I have ever seen, heard, or read of. And the outside of the door was for a purse & coat hanging hook - not toilet tissue!

Ouch!

I've always been told never to hang my purse on the coathook on the door because people reach over the door to steal them. That's another reason to use the handicapped stall - they are so large it is easier to find a safe, clean place for coat and purse.

I did this the other day at a restaurant, and felt terrible about it because the minute I went to shut the door, a couple of elderly ladies walked in. :-/ I didn't even truly realize it until I was already sitting on the toilet and then I realized what a possible faux pas I had just committed.

Were they in wheelchairs? Elderly does not equal handicapped....

No faux pas. In public bathrooms, generally speaking, first come, first served.

This is true. They were walking, but I still felt like such a d-bag (excuse my language) so it's good to hear that what I did wasn't a total faux pas.

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"Some of the most wonderful people are the ones who don't fit into boxes." -Tori Amos